Places In The World That Are Much Bigger Than You Think

After collecting some thoughts and researched-based facts, I've decided to present you with 10 places in this world that are much bigger than you may think.

Java is a major island of Indonesia lying between Sumatra and Bali. Yet being a bit more than 49,000 miles (around the same size of Mississippi which is small if you think about it), it has more people then the entirety of Russia. In other words, Russia, the largest country in the world by area with more than 6 million miles of land, is smaller than the tiny island of Java. 

Ahh yes. Here it is, Great Britain. Such a small country, but one of the most dominating world superpowers in the 19th and 20th centuries. I mean that Great Britain is around 81,000 square miles, which means it's smaller than New Zealand, which is around 103,000 square miles. On the contrary however, the population varies quite drastically. Great Britain is home to 60 million people, while New Zealand just 4 million.

And no, Great Britain isn't the same as the United Kingdom.

It's actually quite surprising because these two islands seem like they're around the same size..

Ok, I get it. Rhode Island is the smallest state in the United States. So you may be thinking, how the heck did Rhode Island make the list?? Well, there's a saying: Something can be 0 and ∞ at the same time. That's right. Even though Rhode Island is just over 1,000 square miles, it's actually bigger than 29 other countries. 

Not only that, but Rhode Island is actually a pretty big state in terms of population. Well, it does rank as one of the smallest in terms of population. However, most states that rank lower in terms of population are actually much bigger than it in terms of area. For example: Alaska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska, and Vermont are all smaller than Rhode Island even though they're bigger then it.

This comparison probably gives you the idea of how big the United States is.

Somalia is a country around the horn of Africa. Even though at first sight it may not seem huge...this might change your mind. If you place Somalia over the North American continent, it will stretch from Toronto in Canada to Florida in the south of the US. That's a 2,000 mile journey. In fact, not even.

If you put Somalia over the European continent, you'll be mind blown to see that the eastern part of the country hits around the same place as Berlin in Germany, the western part of the country hits around the same place as Southampton in England, and the southern part of the country steeps lower than the city of of Valencia in Spain.

Even though Tokyo is just a miniscule 240 square miles, it's the largest metropolitan area in the world. Those 240 square miles of land have a staggering 37 million residents. To put that into perspective, it has a bigger population than 49 other US states, has more people than all of Canada, and around the population of the Greater New York and LA area in just 1/10 the size. To put it into a different perspective, Tokyo also has more people than all of Australia, around 28 million people.

Tokyo is a tiny place, but a huge city.

While Alaska may be one of the smallest states by population, it definitely isn't by area. In fact, not even close! It's the largest state by area with a mindblowing 663,000 square miles. To put it into a different perspective, you can fit two Texas's (2nd biggest state by area) in Alaska, and 4 California's and Montana's each (3rd and 4th biggest states by area) in Alaska. Not only that, but Alaska is bigger than Texas, California, and Montana combined! That means you can fit all three of those states in the state of Alaska, and still have room left over.

Another way to look at Alaska is if you put it over the Lower 48. If you look closely, you will see that the eastern parts of the state will be around Jacksonville in Florida while the western parts will reach Los Angeles in California!!

Brazil is one of the largest countries in the world. It ranks 6th in population and 5th in area. But let's travel in a bit deeper. We may notice that South America (the continent Brazil is on) is around 6 million square miles. And out of those 6 million square miles, here we have Brazil. Brazil is a staggering 3 million square miles, not far behind the United States. In other words, Brazil covers 1/2 of the South American continent!

If you put Brazil over the European continent, you'd be shocked to see that Brazil can fit Europe in it 16 times! To put in a different perspective, Brazil's western parts stretch all the way to Portugal and Spain, the northern parts stretch off the coast of Norway, the eastern parts stretching all the way to Western Russia, and the southern parts stretching half way down Egypt.

In other words, Brazil is big.

If you look at the map above, you may also notice that Brazil is so big that it borders as many as 9 different countries and 1 territory in its own continent. And it's sorta amazing how Brazil was ruled by a country at least 80 times less than the mass of itself. If you're wondering which country, it's Portugal.

Long story short, this world is a massive place. It has so many different countries, with so much variety in every single one. These places however, are in my opinion the most misunderstood places. Once again, thanks for reading! :)